The present invention relates in general to fibrous material carding machines and more particularly to a waste remover mechanism for a cotton card.
During cotton carding, it is highly desirable to remove waste material such as cotton stem and leaf from raw cotton fibers as they are being carded. It is especially desirable to provide means for removing waste material that can accumulate between the card cylinder and its housing in an area immediately above the interface area of the card cylinder and doffer cylinder. Various attempts have been made to provide such waste removing means.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,276 to Hollingsworth discloses a vacuum creating plate mechanism for exhausting waste material from the area between the card cylinder and its housing intermediate the flats and the interface area or nip area of the doffer and card cylinders. While the Hollingsworth device may alleviate some waste buildup within the card cylinder housing, it provides only a very limited slot-like exhaust port for the ejection of trash, such limited exhaust port being susceptible to "choking" if an accelerated trash exhaust rate should be experienced. Further, Hollingsworth does not provide for the removal of surface carried trash carried on the cotton fiber web wrapped around the rotating card cylinder.
French Pat. No. 1,372,455 to Ecrepont discloses a fixed grate via which is exhausted waste material from the card cylinder housing, the exhaust grate being located immediately below the flats well above the transfer region or nip region between the card cylinder and doffer cylinder. While Ecrepont may provide a plurality of exhaust apertures which, taken together, may exceed in area the limited exhaust port of Hollingsworth, Ecrepont makes no provision for easy removal of his grate for cleaning, nor does Ecrepont provide any means for adjustably positioning his exhaust grate as a whole relative to the card cylinder. Rather, Ecrepont only provides means for individually adjusting the angular position of each of his grate bars relative to the card cylinder surface of revolution.